Through Unheard Eyes
by Sir Raphael
Summary: Star Fox won the Aparoid War, but beyond the skies of Corneria, Sauria, Fichina, and Fortuna, a very different war was being waged, the desperate war fought by the CSS Verity and others to keep the Lylatian cause alive through the darkest days.
1. Foreword

**Through Unheard Eyes: Preface**

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_**Disclaimer**_

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I do not claim to own any part of Star Fox, which is held by Nintendo. All rights, including those to character, scenarios, and games are held by Nintendo. Unique characters and storyline are owned by me, Sir Raphael. If you wish to use these characters in a story or other piece of media, please contact me via personal message or at silverknight6 gmail . com.

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_**Author's Note**_: Through Unheard Eyes is a story I'm writing set in the Star Fox: Assault timeframe. I just felt like doing one of these for a long time, and this is a story where Star Fox probably won't appear a lot in. No, the title's not wrong either...

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_**Synopsis

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**_The starship Verity does her duty in the Aparoid War to hold Lylat together, even as Star Fox saves the larger targets. Everything that happened in the war when Star Fox was not there was not as hopeless as it seemed, not with the Cornerian Starfleet- or what was left of it.

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_**Cast of Characters (Currently under Revision)

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**__Crew of the Verity_

-Richard Alanaldo (Captain)

-Kelmar Jameson (Mechanic)

-Revi Jameson (Tactical Officer)

-Gary Klen (Medical Officer)

-Lionel Spor (Damage-Control Officer)

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_**The Technology Behind Defiance (Currently under Revision)

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**_This is a section dedicated to the technology that runs the fighters of TUE- simple stuff we've all come to know and love, and some of the more complicated things that I introduce here.

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_All Star Fox: Assault weaponry and ships are used here.  
_

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	2. Stormy Skies

**Through Unheard Eyes**

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_Author's Note_: This story is being written at the same time as Defiance for a reason- not to give me a wider base to write on through blocks, but to reintroduce the characters of Defiance, who are the same as they are here. This takes place during the main timeline, during the Aparoid War. The pre-upgrade CSS Verity is the focal point of the story, with Captain Alanaldo, Kelmar, Revi, Gary, Lionel, and the rest of the otter crew. This is a story of the war beyond the war that Star Fox fought, the war that caused the destruction of Corneria, Katina, and Sauria. 

Enough of that, there are some various fights on other planets to expand the war a bit. And with that, it's to the Verity, and to the unheard chapter of the war.

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**Chapter 1 Stormy Skies**

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"Captain, the admiral is signaling to begin the attack." said an otter, watching the tabletop closely. This was actually a screen that displayed a strategic map, and the blue dot at the front of the line was very clearly moving forwards, at the same time flashing red to indicate a communication. A second otter tapped this and listened to the customary pep speech before he turned to the helm. 

"Merriam, take us out at three-quarters speed." The ship shook briefly as it accelerated forwards. "Revi?"

"All systems are online." asserted the otter. Captain Alanaldo nodded. He turned to the main viewscreen, watching the lead ship intently. There was a flash of white.

"Open fire!" he rapped out. The long banks of weapon cells fired bluish-white plasma streams out into space. The first salvo missed, as well as the second. The third rained against one enemy cruiser's shields to no effect. The fourth salvo brought about the destruction of the cruiser in a flash of light and a 'silent boom,' warship slang for the shockwave produced by an exploding ship. The ship trembled, and then rode the wave, bucking up and slicing through. Revi turned back to his console.

"Shields are at 98 percent. All systems are still online."

"We haven't even been hit yet." remarked Kelmar dryly. "Makes my life easier." Alanaldo saw the distant flashes of Oikonny's guns, and also saw the streaks of red fire coming at them. Striding to the helm, he seized it and turned the ship hard over, rolling in place to avoid two of these laser beams.

"Then hope your luck holds," Alanaldo remarked to the mechanic, Kelmar. "I don't want to be hit either." The ship then shook as a red beam struck it. The ship continued on as Revi called out the shield factor- holding steady at 89 percent.

The battle raged on, casualties mounting on both sides from injury and death. Yet the Cornerians had no lost a single ship, and the enemy lines were wavering. It was then that Fleet Admiral Griper made his order.

"All ships- battle formation 'V!' Break through the center!" The ships spiraled up into a complex formation, and then jetted ahead as a single body. Cruiser after cruiser blew up under the furious onslaught until a padre of stealth ships dropped into sight with a barrage of missiles that slowed the advance.

The Verity had been narrowly missed twice and hit once, the ship bucking as it was hit. Still, she kept her place in line and fired all the while. The advance then began to break apart with the second volley, and exchanges about the surprising strength of the counterattack were exchanged until an electrifying report shot through every ship.

"Detecting a warp signature outside the combat zone." Silence as a portal opened and a great ship cruised out slowly. "Great Fox? Command! It's the Star Fox team!"

There was a brief lull in the fighting where not a shot was fired. Every sailor watched the Great Fox intently. Then came the moment that was anticipated and dreaded by the opposing sides- four sleek ships were fired from the dreadnought, a purple trail marking the passage of each one. Then they swooped into combat formation and all hell opened up.

Nimbly making their way through fire, Star Fox closed on Oikonny's fleet, ignoring the ships too large for their weapons and engaging those that were prey. No ship that came under the foursome's lasers survived. One Arwing was chased by a triad ship with the distinctive three Gravity Blades, but the lead ship took it out with a well placed volley. The Arwings jinked and darted between the cannon fire until they closed upon the enemy flagship. Every man expected a great explosion- it was not forthcoming. Many small silent booms wracked their ships as stealth fighters and their missile payloads detonated, but the great explosion did not come. The flagship escaped into the Fourtunan atmosphere. The rest of Oikonny's fleet scattered, leaderless. There was disappointment until a new signal came from the admiral- that for a general chase. The Cornerians broke formation and scattered in every direction, hot-blooded and eager to dispatch the remaining ships.

The Verity's chase had taken her to the orbit of Katina, and there she opened up with her streaming cannons. The heavy cruiser before it turned for its final fight, but before it had time to so much as fire a shot, one stream nailed the hull plating about its reactor, piercing shields and armor to ignite the reactants within. The ship vaporized almost instantly with little debris left. Alanaldo turned to thank his men when Gary frowned and pointed at the screen behind him. The captain turned and looked at the screen, until he found what Gary was looking at. Lionel enlarged it on the screen.

It was an inky black cloud of smoke, spreading across the location where Katina Base Three was located. The ship shook suddenly and Lionel glanced at his screen quickly. "Shields are dropping near the engines. Whatever is causing it is coming from Katina."

"Get us out of here." ordered Alanaldo quickly, and the ship heeled over in a banking turn, but not before the light indicating an SOS signal turned on with a green glow. The ship turned to Corneria and disappeared into the void, leaving the smoke to spread over Katina.


	3. Intercept Course

**Through Unheard Eyes**

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_Author's Note_: Yeah, this story kind of ended up on a hiatus. Sorry, guys, just a bit hard for me to spread my focus over four stories. Still, I can try and wrap up some of them and proceed with my flagship project, Black Skies. And I know it's a bit short, just bear with me.

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**Chapter 2 Intercept Course

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**"Captain Alanaldo," said General Pepper in a warm tone. "Very good to see you." 

"You as well, General," replied the captain in kind. "I assume you received our transmission?" At this, the old hound sighed.

"Yes, and a distress call besides that. However, we have more pressing concerns. The Lylat Network just went down, and I want to know why. I've dispatched Star Fox to investigate Katina, and my son, Therald to check the relays for the network. Until I get a report from him, our communications are permanently out."

"That is intriguing, sir," said Alanaldo, a hint of impatience coloring his voice. "However-"

"You," interrupted Pepper with practiced ease, "will be spearheading a counterattack on Fortuna." When Alanaldo's mouth flew open in shock, Pepper raised his hands. "This isn't a suicide mission or anything close to it. We believe that we have found a laser frequency from last time that will allow you to deal significant damage to the enemy."

"...when will we launch?" asked Alanaldo, regaining his composure. Pepper's reply floored him once more.

"Five hours."

"Five hours? To refit even two ships? That's absolutely impossible!"

"You are quite right. I have assigned you one-quarter of the fleet, and such a refit would take time we do not have. Instead, we have upgraded the weapons on four ships, not including your own. Keep these four close to you at all times. Surely, one like yourself will be able to put them to use."

Alanaldo was proud of this assignment, but he asked a question that was now burning at him. "Sir, I am a captain. I don't have the rank to command a squadron, let alone a quarter of the fleet."

Pepper merely raised an eyebrow. "You are being given a temporary command. Our other commanders are currently away on various other assignments, and your ship performed well at the last battle. That was a hard chase. Good luck...commodore."

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"Rubbish!" said Revi. "Five effective ships against those monsters? They took out a fleet, for heaven's sake!" 

"I know," said Alanaldo simply. "I'm not asking you to believe in this mission. Let's just go and see what we can smash."

"Sir, with all due respect, Revi has a point," said Lionel. "The other ships will only be an encumbrance. We'll have to protect them all from the enemy. I saw the reports from that last engagement seventeen years ago- they _ripped_ through our shields. They didn't batter them down, they just shot right through!"

"That was seventeen years ago, I might remind you," said Kelmar. "The captain has a point. As long as we keep the other ships behind us and in a loose web, we can use long-distance fire to hold them at bay. Our weapons go further than theirs, in any case."

Revi lowered a stern glare at his brother. "I might remind you," he rumbled, "that I am the tactical officer, and you are the chief engineer!"

"And who would know our capabilities better?" shot back Kelmar, his lower chin jutting out. The two almost went to blows before the Verity shot forward under Alanaldo's touch, bringing both of them to their senses and their stations. And as loathe as he was to admit it, Alanaldo rather liked the sight of the other ships falling in behind him.

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That optimism was gone when they neared Fortuna. Alanaldo had not liked admirals and generals much- they seemed to be so hesitant and unreliable. A captain had control over his ship, he'd reasoned, and he alone. But now, standing at the head of the formation and viewing the swarms of Aparoids around Fortuna, he was fast revising his opinion. Even more brave than the common serviceman, who's job was to lay his life down on the line for his country, was the admiral, who had to stay at the front of the charge, to lead when all was lost, to fight to the last alone. He swallowed nervously- a report from Revi brought him back from his thoughts. 

"Sir, the fleet is formed up and our weapons are charged."

Alanaldo looked back at the main viewscreen, watching as the computer began picking out targets. Other cursers began to show up as the others chose their own choice shots. He nodded once. "Fire."

The Verity immediately heeled over as a series of streaming cells on the stern port canon array shorted out and exploded, sending shattered crystals and hull plating spinning off into the night. It was a highly undignified show, considering every other ship had opened up fire without event. Embarrassed, Kelmar quickly shuffled around for some time before he announced the Verity was ready to fire. Alanaldo did so, his yellow beams standing out against the sprays of blue and white.

At first, the Cornerians were doing most of the firing, shooting unopposed unto Fortuna's virgin surface. While many beams dissipated on the way through the atmosphere, a large portion still pierced through to rain down upon the great trees and canyons, carving great rifts and holes into the soil and trees, sparking fires and sending up great plumes of steam. There were several larger detonations from below that were originally assumed to be aparoids, succumbing to the intense laser fire. However, scans quickly revealed it was the remains of Andrew's base, itself falling to the waves of aparoids. With the last credible pocket of resistance finished, the machine-bugs turned their attention skyward and advanced as one.

"Sir, they're coming up now!" announced Revi.

"This is Commodore Alanaldo. All ships firing type one streaming cannons, train all arrays on a single target. All ships firing type two streaming cannons, target each array individually. Fire!"

The effect took some time in showing, but when it did, it was quite dramatic. While the aparoids shrugged off blows from even fully-trained array systems, the new plasma cannons caused them to simply disappear in a blaze of crystalline light. Gary was finding it quite beautiful, despite his reservations about fighting. This all vanished again when the lead aparoid struggled into range and fired a strange, almost liquid-like yellow beam of plasma at one of the modified ships. The blast grated against the shields briefly, then the finely-tuned defensive matrix broke apart. Almost instantly, the beam lanced through the hull plating and shot through to the other side. The stricken vessel immediately slurred out of formation, trailing huge clouds of plasma and broken plating. Smoke and fire poured from the gaping breaches on both side, and the cruiser struggled to get away for repairs when a second aparoid took a shot. The ship broke apart, its power core going critical seconds later. There was a massive flash of white light and an intense shockwave that jarred the fleet badly. Immediately reacting to the situation at hand, Revi trained the streaming arrays on the two aparoids and laced them to pieces.

Then another modified ship came apart, this one simply blown to pieces. Alanaldo scarcely had time to order the hull polarized when they came under attack, the eerie yellow light flooding onto the bridge. The shield matrix collapsed, and everyone braced for the coming explosion. That was never forthcoming, however. Kelmar quickly switched the viewscreen to an external camera, which showed massive ripples of energy rippling across the hull plating, the charged armor repelling the plasma. He looked at Alanaldo in amazement and delight before an incessant whine came up. An energy overload. Revi didn't bother to wait for Alanaldo's order, shunting the excess power to the weapons. This massive surge broke past the regulators that would normally fire the weapons only on command. Massive showers of sparks flew across broken circuits awaiting the command to fire. The targeting systems were just barely operational when the cells opened up, emitting beams of plasma too intense to look at. Every ship in the fleet stopped firing to witness the awe-inspiring scene. These powerful beams simply ripped apart the aparoids. Alanaldo and Revi were working together to make the most of this unexpected power source, turning the ship and the barely-operational targeting system to inflict horrible carnage on the enemy. The crystalline explosions of the aparoids seemed to fill the blackness for miles. Then, finally, the beams began to flicker and died out. The ones that hit Fortuna refracted upon entering the atmosphere, and the damage dispersal was great, but not catastrophic. Then, rumbles ran through the ships as relays blew out everywhere. Almost every streaming cell on the ship blew out simultaneously, and when the explosions stopped, only two arrays were functional, each with only several cells that were barely clinging to life. Alanaldo fired one of these dubious arrays, and it shot a weak beam that intensified briefly before it too overloaded. Kelmar disappeared almost immediately, taking advantage of the apparent lull in the battle.

"Captain," he said sometime later on a personal communicator. "I'm in the engine room, sir. If we want to do _anything_, do it slowly! I don't think our power relays can take much more than...well, anything. We're done here."

Still it had come at a fairly good time. The remaining two ships with the upgraded weaponry soon managed to break apart the other aparoids with help from the fleet, but when the battle was over and the foe was in full retreat, the picture was grim. Out of about fifty ships, eight had been destroyed, including two of the valuable type two carrying ships, and eighteen more were in need of serious repairs. Two, like the Verity, were in critical condition, and most of the other ships had come out with light battle damage. It was a long haul back to Corneria- but it was a triumphant one.


	4. Lost in the Crowd

**Through Unheard Eyes**

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_Author's Note_: Well, thank you very much foxbird22 for your glowing review. And while it's the only review I've gotten so far, it's helped greatly. I know the character descriptions are rather lacking, I'll attempt to flesh it out a bit. Maybe mirrors. Heh.

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**Chapter 3 Lost in the Crowd**

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Richard Alanaldo was not quite sure whether to be proud or embarrassed. As he looked out at the debris field before him, he weighed the recent events. On the one hand, with five ships, he had fought off an entire Aparoid swarm, whereas his counterparts of seventeen years prior had been destroyed with an entire fleet. On the other hand, the rest of his fleet had already retired to Corneria under their own power, except for one other cruiser, the CSS Halcyon, and this ship's crew was very clearly eager to get home, here only to tow the Verity into the long-overdue gate transmission. 

He saw his own thoughts mirrored on the face of others. Revi was a stately otter, usually able to stand aloof and away from company except when with his brother. He was handsome and well-groomed, but his reserve usually kept him from displays of emotion off duty. Yet he looked almost sheepish as he went through his diagnostics and scans, looking up and around at the bridge every few seconds with an "I can't believe it" type of expression stamped on his face.

Alanaldo's gaze next fell on his mechanic. While an infamous flirt and quite a showoff at times, his concern now was not for the situation, but for the ship. Even as the captain watched, Kelmar swore, turned around, and pulled off a wall panel to disappear inside. Loud sparking noises, a bang, and then a loud oath came next.

Gary, while absent, had been most annoyed when he learned of the delay. He did not want to treat his patients here on the Verity when much better medical care was to be had on Corneria. His brown eyes had born a hard glint as he'd left for sickbay. He was not overly fond of work, and while quite willing to put it in when necessary, he favored relaxation.

Quite the opposite of Lionel, who was a happy workaholic. He was rapidly drawing up lists of system diagnostics, highlighted in red and green. At the moment, Alanaldo could tell that there was far more red then green. But of the officers on the bridge, Lionel was clearly the least irritated by their situation, perhaps because of his constantly optimistic nature. Even now, he would crack a joke had the atmosphere been so clearly hostile.

Alanaldo crossed over from his helm station to Lionel's console. The terminal was one of the larger ones on the bridge, dominated by a large, touch-sensitive screen running through its center. This screen was divided into five parts- of these, four of them were arrayed in pairs, with four small sections taking up about two-third of the screen and a larger segment composing the last third. The upper pair was labeled as 'Core Systems,' the other, 'Minor.' Upon these labels, Lionel had childishly scrawled 'important' and 'not important.'

Alanaldo raised an eyebrow- Lionel muttered something and turned away, flushing. With a low chuckle, the captain turned back to analyzing the terminal.

Of the pairs, one section was listing problems aboard the ship, the other, possible fixes. The fifth panel seemed to be serving as a multi-purpose screen, as well as a larger wall screen mounted behind the officer. Alanaldo squinted at the small text running by on the multi-purpose panel.

CENTRAL ENGINE FAILURE

SHIELD GRID FAILURE

AUXILIARY GENERATOR FAILURE

HULL PLATING POLARIZATION OFFLINE

And so on. The list was quite extensive, but as Lionel put it, "it beat being dead." The captain sighed and returned to his central station, tapping a footpaw idly as he waited for the jumpgate to form.

"Finally," he muttered after a time. Everybody looked up, the bridge having been almost completely silent. Ahead of them, space shimmered and bent, slowly taking on a greenish hue. Ripples swept across the undulating surface of the forming gate, color bleaching away from the central gate core. The green border sharpened around the gate disc, and the ripples quieted, becoming intermittent and much less powerful in magnitude. The Verity shuddered as it shimmering blue tractor beam locked onto her, looking for all the world like a suspended sliver of the sea. The ship rocked suddenly as the Halcyon pulled them ahead, and the swirling green and white of the jumpgate slowly consumed the screen until it filled the entire view. Then the ship was taken by a different kind of jolt as the tractor beam failed. The Verity continued to coast on her inertia, and the ship shuddered very slightly as her prow pierced the gate field. The ship sank inwards with what was a sickening feel to Alanaldo, and then disappeared entirely into the vortex.

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Within the gate transmission, everything was a swirling, undulating tunnel of white and blue. Side passages branched off to the left and right, a green gate lens visible at the end of each of them. Their destination's lens shot towards them at an alarming rate as space folded in upon itself, and then the Verity was ejected from the gate with great force. With no engine control, the ship's exit was a tumbling one, and damaged and frayed power relays sparked at the disturbance. Maneuvering thrusters fired, and gradually, the ship slowed and came under control.

Alanaldo grimaced as he brought the ship to face the Orbital Gate, the ship responding sluggishly and yawing far enough to make even flying in a straight line a difficult task. _They're going to think I'm drunk!_

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"Perfectly understandable, captain," said Pepper in reference to his painful flight as he disembarked from his bluish flagship shuttle. Well armed for even a military personal cruiser, it filled most of the shuttle hangar, where Alanaldo had also just disembarked. The old hound looked about. "Where's the rest of your crew- not hiding in these transport bins, I hope?"

"No sir," replied Alanaldo, allowing himself a small smile. "But there was severe damage to the airlocks, so for now we're only taking senior personnel off the ship in the shuttles while the techies figure something out."

"That works," replied Pepper. "Brilliant performance, captain. But we will have to have your report to avoid...further losses."

Alanaldo bit his lip. "There wasn't a whole lot I could do with the other ships," he explained, "and the five you upgraded blow up just like the rest of them." Then he turned to face Pepper slowly from his shuttle doors. "But I have something you might just be interested in."

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"It's an amazing breakthrough," said Beltino later, "but we still do have the problem of the power grid overload. And the resulting mass system failure." 

"Nevertheless," pressed Kelmar, "it's an adequate protection system, and it gives us the ability to turn the ship into a super-weapon. Can't you develop something that can do that without exploding?"

"Not with current resources, I'm afraid," said Beltino, adjusting his glasses. "Funding for the science department is still low- partially, unfortunately, because of you and Star Fox."

"How so?" asked Revi. "If this stuff works-"

"I never said they'd hold off forever," said Beltino, cutting off the other otter. "But it'll be some time in the offing before we can try it. Our military is not the greatest at delivering funds, and the hull polarization technique will take some time to trickle down from flagships to common craft. As for your other question...I think your captain can explain that."

"We defeated them," replied Alanaldo, "with technology that's maybe three years ahead of the current generation of ships. The Arwings of Star Fox and their Great Fox are only about a year and a half ahead of standard models. And as Arwings aren't exactly the most popular mass-produced ship that Arspace makes, no help on that front either. Point being, if we can beat them with technology of today, there's no need to invest in technology of tomorrow right now, where the concern is just building more ships that _can_ win. It doesn't have to be pretty.."

"Government," remarked Gary after a pause, "is not the most efficient thing in the world."

"It sure can be the most bothersome though," admitted Beltino, shaking his head slowly. "Let's get you guys down to the surface. We've got your men off the Verity, and while repair starts, you might as well join the victory party."

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"What will happen when I press that button," said Alanaldo warily, eying the innocent-looking control panel, "scares me more then those aparoids." 

"Come on, Alan, can't be that bad," pressed Kelmar. "And if you won't do it, I'll do it for you."

"That's insubordination-" began Alanaldo jokingly when Kelmar reached the control and hit the little blue button that opened the doors. The otter crew was nearly bowled backwards by a blast of sound and a roar of cheers. Even as they recoiled from the noise they were being pulled into the middle of it by willing paws.

The massive room was a scene of pure and utter chaos. Crew and officers filled the room nearly up to its vaulted ceiling on the many raised platforms ascending the walls like a vine. A large banquet table was laid out in the center of the room, filled with food and drinks. Many people in the room were drunk. All of them were screaming.

"Cheers now for Commodore Alanaldo!" roared someone over a microphone, "and another for hi screw!"

"Hear, hear!" shouted back the masses, and it was all the Verity's crew could do not to shrink away from the noise and try to find a nice, dark place to hide in.

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It was rather late the next morning when Richard Alanaldo woke up, late for duty. He growled upon seeing the timepiece mounted on his bedside table before rolling from his bed and stumbling into the washroom. He left his quarters about five minutes later, emerging onto one of the many access corridors running through the base. He crossed a bridge through a large room with a vaulted ceiling, the walls crafted of tempered glass that was easily capable of turning laser bolts, and into the mess hall. 

He found the room playing host to a large compliment of starfleet crewmen and ratings, buzzing angrily and bickering amongst themselves. Indignant voices shouted things like "How dare they," and "Hullo? We're the starfleet here!"

"What's all this about?" asked a bleary-eyed Richard Alanaldo to Gary, who was sitting near him at a table and swirling a mug of coffee. The other otter merely pointed up at a screen displaying the latest news feed. A young raccoon was chattering brightly upon it, a picture of Katina Base Three behind her.

"Star Fox does it again, pulling off a smashing victory at Katina! Fox McCloud single-handedly penetrated the base's defenses, turned against him by the aparoids, a parasitic species that completely demolished Corneria's third fleet seventeen years ago. But what the fleet can't do, McCloud can, and he wiped out much of the invading force..."

"What?" yelled Kelmar, who'd just come into the room. "What did she say?" There were agreeing tones and noises all over the mess hall, and even the hot-headed Kelmar was not the first to hurl something at the monitor. It wasn't long before a bowl was thrown and the news feed disappeared amidst a rain of cereal and juice. Alanaldo merely put his head in his hands.

"What the fleet can't do, eh?" he muttered through hi fingers. Beside him, Gary nodded slowly before he stood up briefly to hurl his own mug at the offending screen. It was joined in the air by several other such vessels, and when they hit the screen, it exploded into a shower of broken glass and sparks amidst to much cheering. Then a firm voice cut through the rowdy yells, the voice of General Pepper.

"This is General Pepper," he boomed. "All men, report to your flight stations immediately and prepare to scramble. A distress signal has been detected from a mining colony at Titania. Pepper, out!"

"So why're we moving, to be ignored and out of the way again?" muttered an ensign, and there were murmurs of agreement. But the flood of men out of the mess hall did not abate, and soon the room was empty and noiseless but for the slow dripping of coffee from a certain mug that was dripping from a broken screen.


	5. Crossroads

**Through Unheard Eyes**

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_Author's Note_: Well, er, I'm not quite sure the personal messages were quite necessary, foxbird22, but thanks anyway, for the review as well.

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**Chapter 4 Crossroads**

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Starfleet HQ had rarely been this busy, but under General Pepper's orders, the usually well-ordered infrastructure was quickly collapsing under the strain. Starfleet had always been given some measure of warning for launch, and had never scrambled before. 

Though this wasn't entirely true, reflected Alanaldo. The Cornerian Army was still the senior service, and Starfleet did not yet have the government leverage to go against a direct order from the commanding officer. Which would be, to use his full title, Five-Star Supreme Combat General of the Armed Forces of Corneria Order of Black Sky Pepper. As good of a man as Pepper was, his sway over the fleet could be far worse then annoying at times.

Revi winced at the flashes of red light in the corridor. Ahead was the atrium, which was at least brighter then this access hallway. As the flood of men entered the room however and were immediately bottlenecked by the single bridge, the natural light of Solar was being drained from the room. The bright panels of sunlight seemed to be almost reluctant as they withdrew, leaving only when the blast panels closed completely over the glass. The way now lit only by harsh artificial lighting and periodically flashing alert lamps, Revi was about to make a silent prayer to the Creator when exactly what he had anticipated came to pass.

That was, the base went to tactical alert. The lights dimmed significantly, leaving only the pulsing red alert lamps to give them flashes of vision. Revi clapped a paw to his forehead- the lighting was already giving him a headache. Kelmar grabbed him by the arm and continued to drag him along. Despite Revi's wishes to slow down, his brother was more sturdily-built and easily pulled him along to keep up with Captain Alanaldo and Lionel, who were now leading the pack.

As the group scrambled into the emergency elevators and staircases, Alanaldo cleared his voice and said as clearly as he could, "Emergency Override Omega-Four." The lift they were in began to rocket downwards with alarming speed as the safety protocols were deactivated. When the lift stopped, it was with a jarring crash that knocked he and his staff to the floor. The doors opened and they squeezed out, making a beeline for where the Verity's docking port was. This was of critical importance, as the Verity held the leading position on the launching track, and if she was not moved, it would effectively block every ship behind them.

As they ran on, Alanaldo could see docking ports being extended with great speed, latching onto their targets with rolling booms. Crewmen scrambled in frantically, and the running lights of the cruisers began to activate one by one. Then they came to the head of the column- and the Verity was not there. Dumbfounded, the crew came to a halt as Alanaldo grappled with his belt in a fury, eventually whipping out a communicator. He tapped the channel for Beltino, and almost before the answering tone was emitted, he was bellowing into it- "Beltino, where the hell is my ship?!?"

"I'm as aware of the scramble as you are, captain Alanaldo," replied the toad in a withering tone, "but if you expected us to have your ship overhauled in a day, you are sadly mistaken."

"Quick, get to the Halcyon-" began Alanaldo before the ship in question went roaring down the launch track. Ship after ship came out from their docking rings, swung onto the main track, and blasted away.

Alanaldo and his crew were left staring after the departing fleet. "Damn," was all the captain could say. Kelmar turned to shake a fist at the nearby security camera. Others in the crew began to join him as Alanaldo continued to rant and rave at Beltino.

* * *

"Um, sir?" asked a nervous aide. Pepper made an apologetic gesture and stepped away from the holographic transmitter. His face was a mask of fury. 

"This had better be important," he rumbled, "because you just interrupted a highly important briefing with Star Fox." The aide looked more nervous then before, then walked Pepper over to a wall monitor and patched through a very certain camera feed, saying as he did so, "You better have a look at this."

Pepper could only stare before he had to rub his eyes. Behind him, he could hear protests of outrage as somebody hacked into the briefing channel, but the hound found he could care less at the moment. The sight of the Verity's entire crew compliment shaking their fists at him had that mind-numbing effect.

"We've got to find them a ship," muttered Pepper, appalled. He turned to the aide. "Get me that crackerjack in command of the Alheon. I'm relieving him of duty. Tell that mob," he waved at the screen, "that they need to get to launching pad five, and fast. You know what to do." The aide nodded as Pepper turned back to his briefly, rapidly composing himself for a brief situation with Star Fox. He quietly cut into a private channel with Beltino, sternly instructing the toad not to talk of Titania to the team. Pepper felt they would be honor-bound to go for Titania, and the Core Memory was of much greater importance at the moment.

* * *

Several minutes later, the bridge crew could not help shaking their fists at a highly indignant crew compliment under Captain Walter. The mallard had been under the impression that his ship was being hijacked, despite an aide's reassurances to the contrary. But he had not been able to stop the Verity's crew from swarming the ship and taking her over, leaving him and a rather angry crew on the pad to shake their fists at a terrified aide as the Alheon sailed away. 

The shaking of fists on the bridge soon became a very different kind of shaking- one born of laughter. All five of the men could now barely stand, wracked with chuckles as they were.

"Could you see the look on their stupid faces?" gasped Gary, tears streaming down his face, leaving faint trails where the fur was usually well groomed. He sagged over his console, still howling with laughter. The effects were contagious- even as the much faster dreadnought sailed into the atmosphere to overtake the fleet, the crew was still laughing. There might be a moment of silence, and then someone would giggle and it would all begin anew.

With a stitch in his side, Captain Alanaldo was the first to regain his composure. Struggling to keep a straight face, he overrode the helm controls from the command platform and rolled the ship sharply, bringing an end to the merriment as his senior officers went sliding about. There were no more laughs as the Alheon leapt to warp, catching the fleet just as they passed Meteos.

* * *

The fleet later received a transmission from Star Fox, but Alanaldo refused to answer it. In almost perfect formation, his fleet continued on with him at point in the dreadnought battlecruiser, Alheon. Four running lights blinked on her wingtips, but these were lost to sight with the ship's speed. 

With the positioning satellites down, presumably due to Aparoid attack, the simple route to Titania, the Orbital Gate, became quite useless, as calibrating it without the aid of the navigational beacons on the satellites would take far more time then proceeding to the destination under warp would.

The stars blurred as the fleet dropped back to cruising speeds, the streaks of starlight fading into mere pinpricks of white amidst the void. The cause of the trouble was quite clear- three cruisers were clearly targeting the mining facility from orbit, and what was more, three distinct red and black fighters were keeping the cruisers under close escort.

"We got called out for this?" asked Alanaldo in disgust. "This is the kind of job Star Fox is supposed to take. You don't call out a fleet to try and destroy fighters." He shrugged as the three Wolfens broke away and moved to engage. The Alheon shook slightly as she came under fire. The lasers of Star Wolf dispersed harmlessly over the ship's hull plating with metallic pings. Ignoring them, Alheon turned to Revi. "Fire the main guns," he ordered. The other otter nodded and dipped his head.

The Alheon then shook to a different tune, white light spilling from sparkling gun barrels. Then an angry red burst of plasma erupted from two muzzles, streaking away at one of the cruisers. The other ship, already rather decrepit from battles long gone, exploded into a cloud of debris and flame. The other ships joined, and the other cruisers succumbed quickly. Alanaldo was about to congratulate his crew when the Alheon lurched heavily. There were the sounds of explosions, and Lionel looked down at his console to ascertain the type of damage.

"Plasma leaks on the port engine, and there's a small hull breach above that that's venting atmosphere. No one was injured, the section with the breach is sealed off."

"Well, your job is done for today," replied Alanaldo. "You see, it looks like our friends just went to warp. So unless we run into something, that's the most damage this ship will be taking. However," he continued, eyes narrowing, "the army won't be here anytime soon. Kelmar, take your boarding defense party down to the surface. Help the miners. Looks like there's still fighting going on there." He turned to Revi. "Signal that to the rest of the fleet."

* * *

In the end, Kelmar had not exactly done what Alanaldo had wanted, but with the same effect. Noticing that the ship was equipped with many medium-grade Landmaster tanks and some Lerowing IIs, he's crammed most of his men into the Landmasters and the few who could fly into the Lerowings. This done, Kelmar had done a manual power reroute to the transmission system and beamed the lot of them to the surface. 

Kelmar swore that the second the transmission was complete, one of the Landmasters was hit by a rocket launcher and was nearly blown over onto its side by the blast. The tank driver was able to put his tank under control with a quick rocket burst, and his gunner swung the turret over and wiped out the offending ruffian in a blaze of radiant energy. Everywhere however, it seemed there was somebody with a rocket launcher who was ready to step from behind something to take a shot at them. Landmaster tanks fired bursts of laser fire, glowing green globules of energy, trailing light behind them as they impacted into structures all around the facility. Great crashing explosions of flame and light echoed all around the station, sending burning debris and shrapnel spinning about, embedding themselves in the dusty Titanian sand. Those that were burning extinguished themselves with soft hisses and plumes of smoke.

"Team, get moving," barked Kelmar. "We're sitting ducks. Set your guns to lethal- not incinderary or explosive! Otherwise, we'll end up doing their job of destroying this place for them."

A new battery of rocket and grenade fire opened fire on them, and the Landmasters bucked as they attempted to move out of the way. The tank treads caught and the armored units went leaping out of the way. But before any of them could so much as sight on the battery, one of the circling Lerowings blew it up in a flash of light and an angry roar as the munitions detonated. The tanks weathered the blast without too much trouble, and it looked like the battle was over when a squad of riflemen leapt from cover to pummel the tanks with laser fire. And while secondary guns on these Landmasters, gattling guns, mowed many of these men down, still more stepped in to take their place

Kelmar opened the hatch of his Landmaster to pipe several shots out from a standard officer-issue blast pistol before ducking back inside. Eventually, the rain of grenade and rocket fire abated and then ceased altogether. Scans quickly revealed the intruders had taken refuge now inside the mining base, where the Landmasters could not go.

The otterr swore after letting Alanaldo know of the new development before he popped the hatch, drew his service pistol again, and leapt from the tank to land on the sandy soil, a cloud of dust rising to meet him. Others left their tanks as well, while some remained inside as a rearguard. A disabled tank was used as a barricade from which to fire from. The enemy was driven away from the entrance, and under the command of Commander Archer, a brave old seal, the ground detachment went rushing into the corridor.

The tide of battle was to turn dramatically once they were inside. As far as surroundings went, a mining base was quite close to a starship, and this was the home turf for the ground forces, whose main jobs were to dissuade boarders from staying aboard. Kelmar lobbed a flash grenade around the corner and shut his eyes. No screaming. Commander Archer made the all clear signal, then readied his rifle and stepped around the corner. It was a short, clear passage that lead to a three-way junction. Men warily spread through the passage and leapt around corners as the group fanned out through the base.

* * *

Alanaldo was listening to status reports from the bridge when a different communication came to him, this one on a civilian channel. He answered it with a signal to Revi. A miner's face appeared on the viewscreen. He looked equally frightened and annoyed. 

"Tell your men to hurry up here! They're trying to override the lockout. If they get in here, it'll be a massacre! We're almost out of ammunition!" The channel then closed without further ado.

Revi raised an eyebrow at Lionel before he relayed the message to Commander Archer.

* * *

The seal looked up from behind the crate of refined ore, putting a hand over his ear to ensure he'd heard the communication properly. When he knew he did, he switched his headset off with an oath and immediately signaled an attack on the entrenched ruffians behind their own barricades. Kelmar swung out from behind his crate and loosed several shots with his service pistol. The red laser bolts slammed into the stacked crates of ore and blew away the crate covering, exposing the ore. Kelmar swore when he remembered that this was a duraluminum plant, and that duraluminum ore was highly resistant to laser bolts. He might as well be firing at his starship. 

The end of the stalemate came when Archer quietly slunk along one wall and then set his weapon on beam stun. Pulling the trigger, he looked away as the weapon fired a cone of dazzling white light. As the ruffians stuck their head about the barrier to investigate, they were struck by the blaze of light and knocked out.

Archer waved a signal and they made a rush around the barrier to stun the others. The party continued on through the hallway to make a run down for the locked-down doors where the miners were hiding.

One of the crewmen opened fire with a machine gun, bringing down three ruffians outside the door. Kelmar's service pistol dropped another two, and the rest of the crew killed five more. But it was Commander Archer who cleared the room. The seal's rifle went onto full automatic and killed eight before so much as a shot was fired back in return. The group then stampeded onto the next group besieging the doors, this one far larger. They had been alerted by the weapons fire down the hall, and the landing party was met almost immediately by a vicious spray of lasers. As they ducked back around, Archer the seal shouted, "At least they have no grenades!"

"Don't jinx us!" yelled back a crewman. As everyone leapt out for a volley of return fire, two of the men were dropped, one permanently. The other was pulled back around the corner with a smoking hole in his shoulder. She gritted her teeth before handing her gun to Kelmar. The otter took it with a brief smile of thanks before he ducked around the wall and fired with a burst of machine-gun fire. He pulled back with a look of surprise on his face, spinning the gun around his finger.

"Bit of a kick for something not much bigger then my service gun," he remarked to the downed crewman. She winked.

"Standard issue if you're on a flagship. I was allowed to keep mine. Never had to use it as a security guard."

"Then you're a lucky girl," replied Kelmar, wincing as there was a scream from the enemy. It looked like Commander Archer was having his bit of fun. The seal came back with his gun smoking from the heat of firing.

The wounded crewman soon passed out from a delayed shock reaction, and the situation was not looking up for the group when a long-delayed second group came around the other corner to pin the ruffians from their unguarded side. A second rush from the first group under Archer lead to the formation of a pincer movement. The ruffian defense broke and they died where they stood, even as two of the freshly-arrived crewmen were injured- though not killed- by friendly fire. It wasn't long before the miners were coaxed from their safe haven and order was restored. But it took over an hour to collect the scattered Landmasters and Lerowings, and an annoyed Captain Alanaldo simply dumped the bulk of the damage paperwork on Kelmar, who could do it better anyways. The otter took this all in stride and thanked his stars that he was not killed or hurt in the confrontation.

* * *

He later made a small prayer for the dead soldier he'd seen that day as the fleet traveled back under high warp. They were forced to slow briefly as Star Fox crossed their path towards Fichina, then they continued on, being joined by the other fleet bodies that had returned from investigating the communication satellites. Their findings were far more troubling- aparoids had been hijacking the airwaves and using the satellites to spy on Cornerian fleet movements, and the deployment of several mercenary groups under army pay. It was a slightly more subdued group that returned to Cornerian orbit and descended into the launch bays.

* * *

Despite the immaturity of the act, Captain Alanaldo could not refrain from shaking a fist at a security camera as he passed into the base. His staff joined in on the joke as well, something that would eventually become a wardroom legend in the world of officers and crewmen.

* * *

On the other side of Titania was a fourth ruffian cruiser, with Wolf O'Donnell's personal emblem stamped upon it. Hitherto unnoticed, it had been there as a safeguard in case the main body of the landing force were compromised. 

Instead, it had fallen prey to the aparoids. A crystalline structure now coated much of the ship, and the hallways now were full of men both dead and worse then that. Glowing veins of blue, striped with green ran through the ship, and the viewpane on the bridge was rimmed eerily with amethyst crystals that spiked out towards the center. Crewmen lay dead and slumped over their consoles as a lone aparoid wandered the room, occasionally biting one of the corpses. It wasn't long before these dead bodies were restored to a limited extent, their former identities being stripped away. These dead men awoke from their eternal slumber briefly, only to be hit by a mind-crushing presence within their heads. They would struggle, they might scream. But in the end, the Queen subdued all will. She was the master of all life and machinery, and no amount of lasers and lives could stop that.

The command terminal blinked feebly as a damaged AI attempted to self-destruct the ship. The screen flickered as software commands ran through unreceptive conduits. The computer gave one last try before it died in a defiant sizzling of wires, the screen fading slowly to black and a row of red-lit lights switching off one after the other. The ship's interior lighting failed seconds afterwards, and the engines shook as the fuel containment systems began to crash. Then the iron will of the Aparoid Queen asserted itself over the machinery, and it became her own. The lights went on, projecting a sickening orange light into corridors lined no longer with corpses, but mindless drones. Containment fields snapped back into existence, tinged with streaks of green and red, casting an evil glow about deserted engine rooms. Computers restarted, memories wiped and software corrupted. And then the ship made a smooth turn and leapt to warp towards the asteroid belt, where its master now directed it. Stars now passed by at great speeds, unnoticed by the unseeing eyes of a crew who had now paid for their lives of crime with their soul. Eerie screams echoed through the ship as some fought to break free, but these grew less and less frequent as the cruiser plowed onwards. Then they stopped altogether, and there was no sound aboard the ship but for the ominous clicking of mandibles and the tapping of crystalline legs upon steel decks. The aparoids were now in control, and there was now no hope for those who resisted them with their hopeless plans and pitiful defenses.

Everything in the universe belonged to them now.


End file.
